Long-lost Texas artwork is discovered
Sam Ratcliffe, head of special collections in Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ's Hamon Arts Library, talks about the discovery of one of the most important paintings in Texas history turning up in a West Virginia attic.
By Bud Kennedy
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
One of the most important paintings in Texas history has turned up in a West Virginia attic.
For generations, art historians have looked for The Battle of San Jacinto, a smaller 1901 version of a showpiece 1898 mural in the Texas Capitol, painted from survivors' stories by San Antonio artist H.A. McArdle.
A Dallas auction house will sell the San Jacinto painting in November after one of the artist's grandchildren found it in a family attic in a northern West Virginia town.
"This is a stunning discovery," said historian Sam Ratcliffe, author of the book Painting Texas History to 1900 and head of special collections in the Hamon Arts Library at Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ Methodist University.
"This is a painting of one of the most significant battles in North American history, by the most visionary painter in Texas history," Ratcliffe said.
Irish-born art professor and artist Harry McArdle -- originally, Henry -- interviewed hundreds of survivors to paint both San Jacinto and his other definitive mural in the Texas Capitol, Dawn at the Alamo.
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